.Trying out for MARSOC as a reservist

I am in the reserves, and I'm curious if anyone knows if there are many differences between trying out for MARSOC as a reservist vs active duty. If anyone has advice or tips, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Raider

I am in the reserves, and I'm curious if anyone knows if there are many differences between trying out for MARSOC as a reservist vs active duty. If anyone has advice or tips, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

The process for reservists is just a bit more complicated. Each A&S class usually contains around 10 reservists, plus or minus. Your first step is to reach out and contact a MARSOC recruiter. All contact information is available online, just Google "MARSOC recruiting". They will point you in the right direction. There is a lot of paperwork involved. Many times reservists are at a disadvantage because they don't have the same resources available as an active duty Marine would. For example; If an active duty Marine stationed on the East Coast needs help with swimming, has questions about MARSOC, or needs an NSW physical, he has options. There are pools and MCIWSs, the MARSOC recruiting office, and Naval medical facilities at his disposal. Conversely, the reservist Marine may not have any of these. The recruiting process for MARSOC can be especially frustrating for reservists on IRR. Oft times, they don't even live near a military base. Once the reservist Marine has completed the required prerequisites, and been properly screened, he will be slated to attend an upcoming A&S class. Once a reservist shows up to train, it's pretty much business as usual. What I mean is, they get treated exactly the same as active duty Marines. That is because reservists must be placed on temporary active duty in order to attend the course. Reservists are usually required to check in a day or two earlier than active duty Marines, so they can establish contact with the Reserve Liaison Officer (RLO). This preliminary period is used to start travel claims, address pay or administrative issues, and is used to track all reservists in attendance. If selected, most reservists try and stay on active duty by working in the recruiting offices. This way they can be near training facilities and learn as much as possible before attending ITC. Of course, the steady paycheck and benefits don't hurt either. Not all reservists are afforded this option, however, and many are forced to return home until their ITC class picks up. Your recruiter staff will be able to speak more intelligently on this topic. There is one interesting reservist that comes to mind as I'm writing. This guy was selected at A&S and then attended and passed ITC. After ITC, he was sent to language school. Upon graduating language with a 2/2+, he still could not be assigned to a battalion because his active duty orders had not been approved by HQMC. Basically, he was still on temporary active duty and needed to be changed to permanent active duty for assignment to the operational forces. This is not common though, and I have never seen it happen since. Just goes to show how quirky the services can be.

Thank you so much, your response has been a great help. I am very lucky to have a very physically active family that helps me stay motivated and keep training, but it is a lot harder to not have the same resources that active duty has. That is another reason that really brought me here; what I lack in resources, I can hopefully gain here in information and knowledge.

I am in the IRR and have orders to A&S 15-2. The process is fairly lengthy I originally found this site/the Maradmin in February of 2014 and didn't receive my orders until December. My case may have taken a bit longer as well because I had to reenlist in the IRR which took about a month to get completed and approved. All I can say is once you get everything submitted to MARFORRES stay on top of them. I called them on an almost daily basis until everything was approved. I figured no one cares if/when my packet gets approved except me. Being in the reserves you should have a little bit more help than I did, but if you have questions about the process let me know and I will provide you with whatever knowledge I can.